This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from the prior Japanese Patent Applications No. 11-162352, filed Jun. 9, 1999, No. 11-162353, filed Jun. 9, 1999, No. 11-223850, filed Aug. 6, 1999, No. 11-265283, filed Sep. 20, 1999; and No. 11-266900, filed Sep. 21, 1999, the entire contents of all of which are incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a photovoltaic cell module tile which is used as roofing material of buildings and on which a photovoltaic cell module is mounted.
2. Description of the Related Art
The technique of mounting a solar battery on a tile used as roofing material of buildings and converting solar energy into electricity is known in Jpn. UM Appln. KOKAI Publications Nos. 62-52610, 1-148417, 4-28524, 5-3430, etc.
Jpn. UM Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 62-52610 discloses that a recess whose shape conforms to that of a solar battery is formed in the top surface of exterior material dedicated to tiles and outer walls and the solar battery is fitted into the recess.
Jpn. UM Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 1-148417 discloses that a solar battery is provided on the undersurface of a flat-plate tile and a lead of the solar battery is drawn from a space formed under the upper edges of the flat-plate tile.
Jpn. UM Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 5-3430 discloses that a solar battery is adhered to the surface of a tile, an opaque sheet is stuck to the surface of the solar battery such that it can be peeled therefrom, and the solar battery is protected by the sheet in a tiling operation.
In the prior art solar-battery mounted tile as described above, a solar battery is directly adhered to a tile body by an adhesive, a recess is formed in the tile body, the solar battery is adhered to the bottom of the recess through the adhesive, and the solar battery is fixed into the recess by filling a gap between the solar battery and the inner surface of the recess with caulking materials.
However, the adhesive and caulking materials are easy to deteriorate. In a roof that is exposed to sunlight and increased in temperature and exposed to the weather, the deterioration makes rapid progress to cause a crack, which rainwater is easy to enter. When the roof has a steep pitch, the solar battery is likely to drop from the tile body. Further, when the caulking materials are squeezed out and adhered to the surface of the solar battery, a problem of decreasing photoelectric conversion efficiency occurs.
In the tile having a recess on its surface to which a solar battery is adhered as disclosed in the foregoing Jpn. UM Appln. KOKAI Publications Nos. 62-52610 and 4-28524, rainwater is collected at the bottom of the recess and the collected rainwater is heated and expanded by solar heat, with the result that the solar battery is likely to rise..
In the prior art wherein a lead of the solar battery is drawn from a portion of the undersurface of the upper edges of the flat-plate tile where a space is to be formed as disclosed in Jpn. UM Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 1-148417, a wiring operation is difficult to perform, and the entry of rainwater is likely to cause a short circuit and a leak of electricity. Even though an operator is going to replace one tile together with the solar battery, he or she has to perform a difficult operation of removing several tiles around the one tile. Jpn. UM Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 5-3430 discloses a structure in which the solar battery is likely to separate and drop from the tile when the adhesive deteriorates.
In all of the publications described above, the photovoltaic cell module is fixed to the tile body by the adhesive. Thus, when an operator is going to replace one photovoltaic cell module to maintain and inspect the module or when it is broken, he or she is difficult to separate the tile body and the photovoltaic cell module from each other because they are formed integrally as one component and thus needs to replace the module together with the tile body.
Accordingly, an object of the invention is to provide a high-reliability tile for a photovoltaic cell module in which the photovoltaic cell module is detachably fixed to a tile body and one photovoltaic cell module can easily be replaced when it is broken, and the photovoltaic cell module can easily and reliably fixed to the tile body.
A photovoltaic cell module tile according to the present invention includes a recess provided in a top surface of the tile body, which stores a photovoltaic cell module, and a fitting section which is provided in the recess on an eaves side of the tile body and in which an eaves-side end portion of the photovoltaic cell module is inserted and fitted. A pressure member is provided on a ridge side of the tile body and presses a ridge-side end portion of the photovoltaic cell module against the tile body.
A photovoltaic cell module tile according to the present invention includes a mounting section provided on a tile body, which mounts a photovoltaic cell module having a terminal box on an undersurface of the photovoltaic cell module. A tightening member provided in the terminal box penetrates the mounting section of the tile body and fixes the photovoltaic cell module to the tile body from under the mounting section. The tightening member has a nut and a bolt.
A photovoltaic cell module tile according to the present invention includes a mounting section provided on a tile body, which mounts a photovoltaic cell module having a terminal box on an undersurface of the photovoltaic cell module. The photovoltaic cell module also includes a tightening member for fixing the photovoltaic cell module to the tile body. The tightening member has a fixing member body interposed between adjacent tile bodies of a plurality of tile bodies arranged in a row, a pressure piece which is formed on an upper end portion of the fixing member body to be integral with the fixing member body and presses photovoltaic cell modules of adjacent tile bodies against the tile bodies, and a holding piece which is formed on a lower end portion of the fixing member body to be integral with the fixing member body and holds under the tile body.
A photovoltaic cell module tile according to the present invention includes a mounting section provided on a tile body, which mounts a photovoltaic cell module having a terminal box on an undersurface of the photovoltaic cell module. The photovoltaic cell module also includes a tightening member for fixing the photovoltaic cell module to the tile body. The tightening member has a fixing member body interposed between adjacent ones of a plurality of tile bodies arranged in a row, a pair of left and right pressure pieces which are formed on an upper end portion of the fixing member body to be integral with the fixing member body and are each connected to a top surface of the photovoltaic cell module mounted on a corresponding one of the plurality of tile bodies to press the photovoltaic cell module against the tile body, and a holding piece which is fomed on a lower end portion of the fixing member body to be integral with the fixing member body and holds, together with the pair of pressure pieces, the tile body.